5 Effective Home Workouts to Blast Belly Fat

by Peh Yi Wen

FITNESS | 28 February 2019

Zap that lower pooch away with these living-room friendly exercises suitable for any fitness level.

Photo: Roman Samborskyi/123rf.com

Belly fat is notoriously difficult to get rid of. But follow the right diet, clock enough Zs, do the right exercises and the inches will fall, bringing you closer to your flat abs goal. Besides cardio and resistance training, slide these quick exercises into your routine to get a leaner tum. You won’t need any equipment and you can conquer them from the comfort of your living room – so no excuses! Nothing over 15 minutes, we promise.

Burn stubborn lower belly fat

Led by personal trainer Rebecca Louise, this quick 10-minute workout targets the lower abs with moves that can be done on an exercise mat. By the end of it, you would have mastered the leg drop move and worked on your core stability with multiple bridge knee pushes. To avoid working the back muscles instead of your lower abs, Rebecca recommends placing a towel right below your lower back and pressing your lower abs towards the mat to hold it in place. This way, your lower abs are fully engaged and all that sweaty effort won’t go to waste.

Melt your muffin top away

Expect plenty of hip dips and Russian twist variations in this upbeat routine by Blogilates founder Cassey Ho. While it’s designed to target your obliques for a slimmer waist, these exercises will fire up the muscles in your shoulders, abs, arms and booty too. And just as the burn hits you and you feel like giving up, Cassey’s infectious energy will carry you right through it as she works out right alongside you.

HIIT your belly, one more time

HIIT workouts are one of the most effective options to tone and trim all over in a short period of time. All you need for this 15-minute interval workout by Fitness Blender is your bodyweight. Starting with X-burpees and ending with jump lunges, you’ll be bouncing on your toes the entire time – even during the 10-second active rest segments. Don’t forget to include your warm up and cool down exercises before and after.

Feel the barre burn with this standing abs routine

Sick of doing crunches? Shake things up, grab a chair and unleash your inner dancer with this 15-minute routine that features super graceful ballet barre exercises. On top of working your stabilisers from start to finish, you’ll be firing up those abdominal muscles with every pulse and plie. Plus, Lazy Dancer Tips proves that it’s possible to get your sweat on, even with your furkid in the way.

Flow your way to a stronger core

This 10-minute yoga workout by Sarah Beth Yoga starts in a comfortable child’s pose and is done at a much slower pace compared to those above. Even if you have zero yoga experience, her clear instructions on breathing, movement and alignment make it easy to follow along. Expect a combination of core-strengthening poses, such as high planks, low cobra peel-ups and balancing table, which will help to firm up your belly and strengthen your arms as well.